Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December , â€" April , ) was an American
actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of
her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly plays, five of which
were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels
Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's
Sarafina!, and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced
Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's
Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according
to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put
Off-Broadway on the map."Lortel was born Lucille Wadler on December ,
, at Attorney Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one of four
siblings born to Anny and Harris Wadler, Jewish immigrants of Polish
descent. Her father was a manufacturer of women's clothes and
frequently traveled to Europe to buy designs that he would copy. She
had two brothers, Mayo (a violinist) and Seymour, and a sister, Ruth.
She was raised in both the Bronx and Manhattan. She was homeschooled,
after which she attended college at Adelphi University in Brooklyn,
New York. She was remembered by her friends for being vivacious,
outgoing, and flirtatious, and was known to be found dancing at
parties well into her s.In , Lortel (her stage surname) began to study
acting and theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In , she
briefly left the United States to continue her training with Max
Reinhardt in Berlin. She made her Broadway debut in in the Theatre
Guild's production of Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Helen Hayes. In ,
she appeared in Michael Kallesser's One Man's Woman at the th Street
Theatre in Manhattan. She also appeared in David Belasco's The Dove
with Judith Anderson, and as Poppy in the touring company of The
Shanghai Gesture with Florence Reed. In , Lortel played the female
lead in The Man Who Laughed Last with star Sessue Hayakawa. She
performed the role both on stage and on film in what was one of the
first talking pictures.In Lortel married paper industrialist and
philanthropist Louis Schweitzer. In deference to her husband's
concerns, she retired from acting in .
actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of
her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly plays, five of which
were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels
Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's
Sarafina!, and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced
Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's
Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according
to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put
Off-Broadway on the map."Lortel was born Lucille Wadler on December ,
, at Attorney Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one of four
siblings born to Anny and Harris Wadler, Jewish immigrants of Polish
descent. Her father was a manufacturer of women's clothes and
frequently traveled to Europe to buy designs that he would copy. She
had two brothers, Mayo (a violinist) and Seymour, and a sister, Ruth.
She was raised in both the Bronx and Manhattan. She was homeschooled,
after which she attended college at Adelphi University in Brooklyn,
New York. She was remembered by her friends for being vivacious,
outgoing, and flirtatious, and was known to be found dancing at
parties well into her s.In , Lortel (her stage surname) began to study
acting and theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In , she
briefly left the United States to continue her training with Max
Reinhardt in Berlin. She made her Broadway debut in in the Theatre
Guild's production of Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Helen Hayes. In ,
she appeared in Michael Kallesser's One Man's Woman at the th Street
Theatre in Manhattan. She also appeared in David Belasco's The Dove
with Judith Anderson, and as Poppy in the touring company of The
Shanghai Gesture with Florence Reed. In , Lortel played the female
lead in The Man Who Laughed Last with star Sessue Hayakawa. She
performed the role both on stage and on film in what was one of the
first talking pictures.In Lortel married paper industrialist and
philanthropist Louis Schweitzer. In deference to her husband's
concerns, she retired from acting in .
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